NBA '89-90

NBA '89-90; Turnovers, 2 More Teams And Questions

By SAM GOLDAPER

Published: October 29, 1989

Larry Bird is back. David Robinson is finally here. For the first time, players from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia will be competing in the National Basketball Association. In the biggest player turnover in league history, 128 players, more than one-third of the league, will be wearing new uniforms after an off season of stocking the two expansion teams, free agency, trades and the influx of rookies.

Welcome to the next decade of the N.B.A., in which defenses are certain to become more sophisticated, depth more essential and with a continued emphasis on the running game.

It all begins Friday night as the 44th N.B.A. season gets under way with the Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the league, new divisional alignments and a host of questions:

* Will Bird's return spark a rebirth of the Boston Celtics?

* What effect will Robinson's return from naval duty, two years after he was the first player selected in the 1987 draft, have on the San Antonio Spurs?

* Will the two new Soviet and three Yugoslav players turn out to be solid contributors or busts?

* Can the Detroit Pistons repeat as champions? Worst Season in a Decade

With Bird limited to six games and having bone spurs removed from both feet, the Celtics finished with a 42-40 record. It was their worst mark since the 1978-79 season, the year before Bird arrived.

The Spurs won 52 games in the two years they waited for the 7-1 Robinson, the 1987 college player of the year, to join them. But after San Antonio won only 21 games last season and Larry Brown recorded his first losing year as a college or pro coach, the Spurs wheeled and dealed and wound up keeping only Willie Anderson, Frank Brickowski and Vernon Maxwell from the 1988-89 team. With the major overhaul that includes the addition of Sean Elliott, the Spurs are the early favorites to be the league's most improved team.

Not only are some of Europe's outstanding talents coming to play in the N.B.A. (after FIBA, the international federation, voted last April to allow professionals to compete in the Olympic Games and the world championships), but two top young American talents opted to play in Europe this season. Danny Ferry of Duke, the second player selected in the June N.B.A. draft, chose to play in Italy, rather than for the Los Angeles Clippers. So did Brian Shaw, the rising Celtic playmaker. European Players

The Lithuanian-born Sarunas Marciulionis, who is 6-5, joins the Golden State Warrior as a shooting guard, and the 6-11 Vlade Divac will try to fill the void left by the retirement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Los Angeles Lakers. Aleksandr Volkov joined the Atlanta Hawks, Drazen Petrovic joined the Portland Trail Blazers and Zarko Paspalj, the Spurs. Their play, especially defensively, will be closely scrutinized, since the emphasis in European basketball has been on scoring rather than defense.

Some of the league's biggest names were involved in trades. The Nets sent Buck Williams, a top rebounder, to the Trail Blazers. Ralph Sampson, a 7-4 center, went from the Warriors to the Sacramento Kings. Terry Cummings, a 6-9 forward, went from Milwaukee to the Spurs for Alvin Robertson, Greg Anderson and future considerations. And the Philadelphia 76ers sent Maurice Cheeks, their veteran playmaker and four-time All-Star, to San Antonio for Johnny Dawkins. Just Friday, the 76ers acquired Rick Mahorn, the leader of the Piston Bad Boys who won the championship last year.

Among the most prominent unrestricted free agents to move were Larry Smith, who left the Warriors for Houston; Wayne Cooper, who went from Denver to Portland, and Purvis Short, who went to the Nets from Houston.

It took the Pistons 41 years to win their first championship and the Lakers 20 years to become the first team to repeat as champions. It may take that long again for another titlist to match the feat.

The growth of the league to 27 teams caused some realignment. The Miami Heat moved from the Midwest to the Atlantic Division, the Charlotte Hornets left the Atlantic for the Midwest, while Minnesota was placed in the Midwest and Orlando, in the Central.

The Pistons, minus Mahorn, who was left unprotected in the expansion draft and taken by the Timberwolves, will have to fight off some challengers in the Eastern Conference, among them the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks and the Knicks. In the West, where the Lakers have won eight consecutive Pacific titles and have been to the championship round 8 of the last 10 seasons, the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers are stirring.